Ravings, Rantings and Ramblings

February Take Twelve!

2012-02-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was the 12th already! And so here is my layout for Ella Pubs Take Twelve Challenge:

I have to say that I am really enjoying this challenge. Of course I cannot take just 12 pictures so for your enjoyment here are a few that only just missed the cut:

Ry takes a nap on the floor, with his head on a book bag


Stopped at a Red light (I promise!)

One of many bookcases in my home

Thanks for stopping by. I love reading your comments!

Cuttlebug tutorial

2012-02-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

I just wrote this tutorial for the blog A Crafting Start Let me know what you think!

Do you ever: Want to make flowers, butterflies, titles &/or tags that perfectly match your layout? Want to be thrifty & make beautiful embellishments from your leftover scraps? Want to never worry about running out of the letter E again? Then the Cuttlebug just might be the tool for you.
What is the Cuttlebug? It is a personal Die Cutter & Embosser. Huh? Put simply the Cuttlebug uses "dies" to cut out shapes and "folders" to emboss. Here is a sample of things I made using the Cuttlebug in less than an hour (& I stopped to take lots of pictures for this tutorial). The Cuttlebug at your local store may or may not look exactly like this:

(ProvoCraft, who makes the Cuttlebug recently changed the design). But it doesn't matter if it doesn't look the same, it will still work the same way. the dies & Embossing folders can come in many shapes & sizes. In fact the Cuttlebug is made to work with dies & folders of other brands as well. So the possibilities are endless. Here are a few that will work with it:

Weighing about 7 pounds and with a handle on top, It is made to be portable so you can take it when you go to a crop. And Since it folds up it is pretty easy to store. Mine fits in a small shelf next to my scrap space. See:

As you can see, the Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools. If you've never used a diecutter it might look intimidating. The good news is...It's very simple, if you remember a few things:

1) Make sure you are on a stable work surface. If one isn't easily available, I often use the floor. The Bottom is designed to grip the work surface when you open it up, so it won't slip around when you are turning the handle, But if your work surface is moving around, that won't do you any good.

2) You can cut many different materials, paper, felt, vinyl, fabric, chipboard, even cork, but don't try to cut anything thicker than 1/8 inch. Not only do you risk bad cuts, but it can void the warranty. Also it must be no more than 6 inches wide, or it won't fit.
(Length doesn't matter it can trail off the edge as long as you want. I run 12" strips through mine all the time)

3) Make sure you use the right sized parts in your "sandwich", & in the right order:
The Cuttlebug comes with 1 spacer (A) and 2 cutting pads (B) There is also a Thin Die Adapter (C), which doesn't come with the Cuttlebug, but is designed for use with other companies dies. You will always need at least 2 of these & I've found most of the time I use A & both B's.

If the sandwich is too thin, it won't cut and if it's too thick, the cutting pad can break, so don't force it. Here's how you can tell when you turn the handle:
If it turns very easily it's probably too thin.
If it creaks loudly &/or is very difficult to turn, it's too thick.
Either way simply adjust which layers you're using.

Here is an example of a sandwich:

As you can see, A is on the bottom. (Unless you have a very thick die & don't use A, it is Always on the bottom) B is the cutting surface, so it comes next, followed by the paper (or whatever material you are cutting), and then the die with the cutting side (Usually there is foam covering the blade on this side) down. Then for this one the dies are thin so C is on top. (When using dies that are made for the Cuttlebug & most embossing folders you would use the other B here Always make sure you have one of these on top.).
Then you just put your "Sandwich into the Cuttlebug like this:
and turn the handle until it comes out the other side.

It doesn't matter which side you put it in, so both lefties & righties can both use this machine with no problem.

So when it comes out you take apart the sandwich & this is what you find:


Notice that the cutting mat is scarred with the shape from the die.

4) When embossing, make sure the paper is inside the folder & lined up where you want the pattern to be. (For large background embosses this isn't important, but for our example it is, as you can see: If it isn't lined up, you can end up with only part of the butterfly embossed. It's also important to make sure you have the butterfly right side up. (Especially if your paper is double sided, or has a "wrong side" for flat, non-textured card stock, it doesn't matter) the side you want embossed should face the "Sticking out side", not the "Sunken in side" or you will have Debossed, instead of Embossed. In other words the area that is raised on the folder will press into the paper so that it makes a bump. The mostly sticking out side has grooves where the bumps from the sunken in side fit and press the design out (aka Embossing). So here is our sandwich with the butterfly in the middle:

And after running it through the machine we have a beautifully embossed butterfly.

So that is the Cuttlebug! A simple user friendly tool. I've included a links to some more information, including Provocraft's downloadable Cuttlebug manual (PDF). & This link has some information that i found very helpful:
http://cuttlebug.net/Cuttlebug_information.html

I'd love to see what you do with the Cuttlebug! You can find me at http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/.
Posted by Katrina Forman of Katrina's Kreations

Blog Hop Winner

2012-02-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

So the winner is:

HeatherJan 27, 2012 02:05 PM who said:

"I love your organized mess. That's what mine is looking like, too. Can't wait to get scrapping!"

Congrats Heather! I'll Shoot you an email to get your Address. & Rosita-Sent you an email too, I'd love to get your address & send you the Orthodontist papers.

Now Back to LOAD...

LOAD Blog Hop

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog! If you're following the hop, you should have come from Pam
(If not don't worry the last one links back to the first one in a big circle so even if you start here you can still see us all).

I am Katrina, also known as kskreations on Flickr which is short for my little crafty business Katrina's Kreations. I am a mostly SAHM of one, my DS Ryan, who was just reading this & thought I nicknamed him after his Nintendo ;). I feel like I've been scrapping my whole life. I did some scrappy things with magazine pictures & cutouts of certain hearthrobs when I was a young teenager (can you remember NKOTB?). In 1994 I did a whole album from a vacation I took-in an old "magnetic" album with only photos and ephemera I collected on the trip (I haven't talked myself into taking it apart, but maybe I'll just scan the pages so when it falls apart, I'll have the scans). I started doing what we think of as scrapbooking when I did an album for my parents 30th Anniversary in 2001. I was totally hooked despite my first major scrap related injury (it involved a craft knife & let's just say my thumbprint is very identifiable to this day), but didn't do much more until after Ryan was born in 2002. I've never stopped since!

If you've never tried LOAD I highly recommend it! (Just click the blinkie on the top left or go to http://www.layoutaday.com/212pp ) My first LOAD was October of 2010. I was so inspired that I joined ScrapHappy before it was over & I haven't missed one since. In fact last year I did the MotherLOAD marathon in September & then an informal ScrapHappy LOAD in October (That's 56 layouts total).
LOAD is so inspiring Lain has worked so hard to give us a great prompt each day...and then she doesn't even mind if you ignore it, as long you post a layout each day. Many of my very favorite layouts were made during a LOAD. They are not always the most beautiful or complex, but the tell important stories. Here are some examples:

Layouts about my childhood & my Mom are fun to make (& share) and meaningful too.

Both of the above layouts are about my husband. since my son was an infant when he died in April of 2003, it is my job to enrich his memory. The only way he will know his father is through those who remember him. It's not something I scrap about constantly but I do at least one every LOAD-it's like Therapy for me.

Layouts that preserve my observations and my son's memories will be even more appreciated as he grows. And maybe his future children will enjoy learning about their Dad as a child.

Here is the wrapup page from last February:

Layouts like this one are like a pat on the back as well as motivation to do it again.

Here is an excerpt from a previous blog post about LOAD (pictures were added for your enjoyment this time):

Now I don't usually do a whole lot of prep. I have a gazillion photos in boxes in my studio or in my PSE Organizer (Or both sometimes) so I often just let the prompt inspire which page I do that day, but I wouldn't be able to do that if my photos weren't organized. I haven't taken LOM, (but I do have the book Photo Freedom) so most of my photos are still stored chronologically.

I have a big 12x12 album that all my LOAD LO's go in, then eventually I will move them to the individual albums they belong in. I have several that are as follows: Ryan's Baby Album (separate from the baby book but you knew that already right), Then 2 more Ryan Albums (one is full), which have pages from various ages. An Album about my husband & my memories of him. I have an all about me album which has a surprisingly large number of pages. I have a travel album, a disney album, and a misc for those pages that don't fit anywhere else, & a couple albums with no particular theme from when I first started scrapbooking.

My Scraproom is my favorite place in my house, except that it usually looks like a paper truck exploded, so I am going to work on cleaning it up & organizing before LOAD starts too. (Jan 2012-I always say that & I always work to get it somewhat organized, but by the end of LOAD-an even bigger paper truck is dumped in there-along with plenty of glitter & mostly/partly used sticker (mostly alphabets) sheets. The really embarrassing thing is i have 3 good sized trash containers in there & I use them... So where does all this stuff come from?)

My supplies are mostly sorted by color. I do have a whole bunch of binders with themed embellies, stickers etc. ( The top row of binders is about 1/2 clear stamps) \I always make it my goal to use my stash & not buy anything new for LOAD. It doesn't always happen, but I certainly have enough in my stash to keep me busy for a couple of years...even if LOAD was every month.

(Back to 2012:)

I can hear you asking...(OK maybe not, but I'm going to tell you anyway LOL) Yes that is a clear shoe holder full of rubber stamps (actually it's 2) on the back of the door (I have another on the other side, but it's not nearly as full) & beside it is my huge rack of paper, from floor to ceiling- solids on one side & patterns on the other.


	.

The white 12" file drawers have some old page kits (remember ScrapJammies?) and any "themed" papers that wouldn't be used for anything other than that theme (I mean if you want to use paper with "Orthodontist" and pictures of teeth all over it to showcase your niece's wedding...that's up to you. Really I mean it, if anyone wants the orthodontist paper let me know...I'll be happy to mail it within the US). So now I'm thinking Why do I have some of this stuff? Maybe I'll use it someday? Maybe there really was a rogue Craft Store truck in here...Hmmm.

If you are standing in the middle of the room & turn around you see the above left picture (BTW these are "photomerges from Adobe Photoshop Elements cool right). The counter is my work area. I love having all my prettiest & most used supplies within easy reach. & I think it's pretty too. (I mean except for the mess of course). I recently took out the little kid's table & phone stand & put a big 5x6" table there with a big person chair. So If someone else wants to scrap with me, I actually have room for that! Yay! (Now whether or not the table is full of stuff so there's no room to work... I'm working on that...really!)

So I know that was crazy long but i hope you enjoyed it and as a reward for bearing with all my ramblings...I'm going to share some of my wonderful ~~stuff~~ stash! Leave me a comment & I'll randomly pick someone to share with...It's great stuff really, I promise I won't share anything I wouldn't use myself!

If you are interested in some of the places where I get ideas for my LOs (besides from ScrapHappy) check out this earlier blog post: journaling & inspiration made easy.

Your next stop is: Cate.

Now just in case anyone gets lost along the way here is the whole lineup:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Kelli www.scrapbookgirl71.blogspot.com

Jennifer http://atthebluebarn.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Monica http://scrapinspired.com

Kimberly www.kimberlykalil.com

Eileen http://thinkinkpaperscissors.weebly.com/

Danielle http://acoffeeaddict.com

Pam dailypamage.blogspot.com

-> you are here: Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

--> Next up: Cate www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com

Gayle http://www.lifeonlilypadlane.blogspot.com

Heather heathersdragonsden.blogspot.com

Gina http://randomthoughtsmindlessmusings.blogspot.com

Kristie http://kristiesloan.com

Janet http://khashabfamilymusings.blogspot.com

Lydia http://lydiaink.wordpress.com

Enjoy the rest of the hop and enjoy LOAD. I look forward to seeing all your wonderful pages. As well as hearing all the wonderful comments. You are all so encouraging I just love it. Thank you so much! While I'm at it, Thank you Margie for organizing the hop. And of course, THANK YOU Lain for the inspiring prompts & for putting us all together in this wonderful community!!!

Clear It Out Card

2012-01-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

It's time for another Clear It Out challenge! This time the challenge is "Staying Warm" so use up your leftover wintry scraps. Here is my card:

The design team was given this adorable digi Winter Penguin-Graphics by Sanqunetti Design to use this week. It can be yours too if you are the winner of this challenge. So Head on over to Clear It Out and join us. You've got 2 weeks to show us what you can do with this challenge. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

January Take Twelve

2012-01-13T14:24:00.001-08:00

January 12, 12, a photo by kskreations on Flickr.

So I've started the Take 12 Challenge from Ella Publishing which means that I will take (at least) 12 photos on the 12th of each month this year...Okay I can't just take 12 photos, so I narrowed them down to these 12 from the more than 60 that I took.
Come join us even if you didn't take 12 that day, you can take them on a different day or even throughout the month. Enjoy!

Just for fun

2012-01-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

So I am thinking about doing a scrapbook page about all my favorite shows & this right here is on the top. My biggest problem is that currently, scrapbook pages can't play video;) so enjoy the opener of my favorite Psych episode ever (we quote from this one all the time-almost like Shawn & Gus).
That gave me the idea to do a page about all the quotes we use all the time so here it is:

Psych Bollywood Theme Song from Greg Cooper on Vimeo.

Thank you Card

2012-01-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

The current challenge over at Clear it Out is to make a Thank You card. Here's mine:


My wonderful neighbour shoveled the snow from my drive & sidewalk. This card is for him.

The winner gets 30 yards of Bakers Twine From http://www.zibbet.com/RABOGNER
I look forward to seeing what everyone submits.

2011-11-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hi...So we have a new challenge blog that I am thrilled to be a part of. It's called a Crafting Start . It's all about the basics. So if you've never paper crafted but would like to, or just need some help with new techniques...this is the place to be! We will have all kinds of tutorials & ideas. This weeks challenge is digi stamps and weve got a great place to get them- Freedigitalstamps.blogspot.com and since they're free...Well who can resist that? Not me!!! So I Picked this adorable owl made by Dawn.

Cute right? Here's a close up of an owl I colored:

The "feathers" are much easier than they look...

And this is my card:

Wait for it....

Ok well you saw that coming right? If you're older than say 8 you probably did! (This is a joke my 9 yo son loves to tell except when you say "Tank who?" He says "You're Welcome")

Looks complicated right! Not suitable for a beginner you think... well you'd be Wrong! It's super easy! I'm working on a tutorial & hopefully I'll be posting it soon.

Bye for now!

Clear it Out Challenge-Trims

2011-10-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

It's time for a new Challenge over at Clear it Out and The Challenge is "Trims"! I know if we're crafters, then we've got a bunch! (I know I certainly do!) So go ahead & use some up and show us your project. Here's mine:

The winner of this weeks challenge will win a $10 gift certificate from one of my favorite ETSY Shops: Creating is Fun... (That's where the trim on this page came from!)And even better Martha is offering a coupon code in that same shop for 50% off! Just use coupon code MOVE50. (I'm not sure how long this promotion will last so you might want to jump on it!)I can't wait to see what you do with your pretty trims!

Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party Starts Tomorrow!

2011-10-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for this class with Shimelle after seeing it on her blog just yesterday (or was it this morning?) Anywho, TrueScrap starts this Thursday, Starring one of my Favorite Scrappers-Lain Ehmann...She has put together such a wonderful lineup! I can hardly wait... & best of all My DS will be in school for most of it & I have a sitter for some more so I can actually concentrate on it this time!-Back on Topic (Sorry LOL)...TrueScrap had a pre-event "Virtual Crop" and there were some challenges including one of Shimelle's to use one of her sketches. I picked this one:

And here is what I made:

Shimelle did a class at the first True Scrap this past April & I loved it so when I saw the Pretty Paper Party...I just couldn't resist. For one thing "Pretty Paper Party" It just sounds so Pretty and as you know Pretty things are my favorite...Yes I know some "Boy Mom's" say that because they are "Boy Mom's" they have to have things like "Dirt" as their favorite color, since everything seems to end up that way anyway...but for me I've discovered that Pretty Girly things tend not to get touched as much (ewww Mom I can't take that water Bottle! It's pink!)...So if it's pretty &/or girly it stays nice, or at least I can usually find it when I want it! So My favorite color is Purple & if it's sparkly so much the better!

That is why I am really looking forward to this class. I have a Ton of pretty papers just waiting to get used on pretty layouts. (Maybe I'll even find out how to use them on Boy pages). I'll try to keep the blog updated as it goes on, but you know I'm not so good at that...

And on Tuesday it will be time for a new Challenge at Clear It out and I've got a Very Pretty Layout all set for it...See you then.

Pre-Informal October LOAD Blog Hop Winner:

2011-10-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

And the winner, thanks to random number generator is: Comment number 3 which is LCSmithSAVED. I guess we'll be swapping LC. Thanks for the great comments everyone.

I am off to Scrap & Play in Omaha & will be driving all day tomorrow, so that's all for now. I'll share some cool goodies when I get back.

Pre-Informal October LOAD Blog Hop

2011-09-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my stop on the Hop. Here is the whole blog lineup:

Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Katherine: http://www.csmoferret.blogspot.com

Tambur: http://myhearties.blogspot.com

Pam: http://dailypamage.blogspot.com

You are Here: Katrina: http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

Next Stop: Christie: http://mrsingie.com

Lisa: http://lisamzepponi.blogspot.com

I am Katrina, also known as kskreations on Flickr which is short for my little crafty business Katrina's Kreations. I am a widow & a mom of one, my DS Ryan who is turning 9 the 17th of October (I can't believe how fast time flies). Do you already feel like you know him from my Layouts? Feel like I've been scrapping my whole life, I did some scrappy kind of things with magazine pictures & cutouts of certain hearthrobs when I was a young teenager, in 1994 I did a whole album from a vacation I took in an old magnetic page album with only photos and ephemera I collected on the trip. I started doing what we think of as scrapbooking when I did an album for my parents 30th Anniversary in 2001, and then started scrapping again after Ryan was born in 2002. When my husband died in April of 2003, it gave me an even greater motivation: preserve his memory for my son. I haven't done a whole lot of pages about him recently, but I do at least one every LOAD-it's like Therapy for me.

I have been very busy working on the layouts for the Mother LOAD this month and will only have a few days off before Our Informal LOAD starts the first of October. This will be my 4th LOAD including the MotherLOAD and I have enjoyed Every Single one so much!

My Scraproom is my favorite place in my house, except that it usually looks like a paper truck exploded, so I am going to work on cleaning it up & organizing before LOAD starts too. My supplies are mostly sorted by color. I do have a whole bunch of binders with themed embellies stickers etc. And some file drawers with themed paper. (I have really been breaking into it a lot this month. I have only done 1 digi layout so far, which is very unusual for me.) I always make it my goal to use my stash & not buy anything new for LOAD. It doesn't always happen, but I certainly have enough in my stash to keep me busy for a couple of years...even if LOAD was every month. Sooo for those of you who have read this whole thing, if you want me to share some of my stash with you, leave me a comment saying so & I will randomly pick somebody (or depending how many comments I get maybe a couple somebodies) to share with. I've got some great stuff, I promise, even if some of it is getting a little bit old, I also promise not to share anything I wouldn't use myself.

Enjoy the rest of the hop and enjoy LOAD. I look forward to seeing all your wonderful pages. As well as hearing all the wonderful comments. You are all so encouraging I just love it. Thank you so much! While I'm at it, Thank you Leslie for all of the hard work you have put into organizing the LOAD and Lisa for organizing the hop. And of course, THANK YOU Lain for putting us all together in this wonderful community!!!

If you are interested in some of the place I get ideas for my LOs (besides from ScrapHappy) check out this earlier blog post: journaling & inspiration made easy.

Your next stop is Christie: http://mrsingie.com Be sure to stop by and show her some love.

See you October first.

Clear it out

2011-09-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's Clear it out Challenge time again: This week our challenge is to Alter something. Our Sponsor is Karen's Needle. She is giving away a treat bag of some of her lovely crocheted flowers to one fortunate person who participates in the challenge. Here is my Item:

Oops sorry, That's part of my sofa table. Here's my Item:

I crocheted those little pansies myself. It was such a pretty pattern. A little lace. a bit of ribbon, a couple scraps of ecru cardstock, 3 acrylic tags, some stamps & some Tim Holtz Distress ink and you have a little photo holder or place setting holder. I enjoyed making it so much! Don't forget to check out the Clear it out Challenge blog & link your project for a chance to win.

My Studio (AKA Scrap Room)

2011-09-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

I am in need of an organizing makeover in and I thought if I blogged about it maybe I would be more committed...Especially since I've been doing the MotherLOAD and using it every day...well we'll see.
My studio is Beautiful, when it's neat & tidy, but there's only space for one to work & I like to scrap with my friends too. It's also frequently in a state of chaos. I think perhaps my system is so complicated that I don't want to put things away, Or maybe I'm just lazy in that way because I'd rather be creating, but who wouldn't right?
Well here are some pictures. Let me know what you think!


A PSE panorama of the South end of the Room


PSE Panorama of the Counter area

The Walk in Closet


My Themed Embellie Binders & Acrylic Stamps

Now you might be thinking it looks great what's the problem? The problem is that it never looks this good, in fact right now I can barely walk in there. So Anyway I've blogged about it so next time yo see me ask if it's clean. Okay? Maybe then it will be.

LOAD Again Finally, Hooray!

2011-09-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

So it's been a crazy summer, and I don't know about you but I'm sad it's over (although glad that school has started yay!). I've been so busy that I haven't posted in a while. Instead of continuing to Suffer from LOAD withdrawal (ever since May), I've been taking the MotherLOAD at Big Picture classes-(Lain has never let me down yet) and yesterday being the first of September it was the first day of the LOAD portion. ScrapHappy is doing an informal LOAD in October (If you don't know about ScrapHappy, you really should check it out), so I am going to get a whole lot of Scrapbooking done in the next 2 months. Here is my Layout for today (Click on it for a bigger image):

I thought I'd share the journaling on here since it's the only way anyone will be able to read it:

So here's the story:

Since we have been learning Nepali for a few years now we decided while we were in New Jersey to visit the Hindi congregation in Edison. (Hindi & Nepali being very similar so the Nepalese can often understand Hindi. And we got to wear our Sarees-Bonus!). So we went to the English meeting in Middletown in the morning and Dad came with Rebecca Lynn & I to the Hindi meeting in the Afternoon. (Ryan stayed with Grandma & Aunt Linda to can tomatoes). After the meeting we met so many warm, loving brothers and sisters. They even put us in touch with some who were at Bethel, & in the Hindi Congregation in Brooklyn. We also asked some sisters where the best places were to do some shopping. I wanted a Kurta Sunwal- (aka Salwar Kameez) because, not being built like a woman from India, I never can find one in Colorado that fits me, And Rebecca Lynn was hoping to find a new one as well. We also mentioned this to a very helpful brother named Jay.

Apparently after we left Jay told his wife Olive. So while we were standing looking at a menu in a restaurant, Olive called Rebecca Lynn. When she found out where we were and that we had not ordered yet she said “come outside and wait there…we will come get you.” When they got there they told me to leave my car where it was. Olive said that if we went shopping by ourselves “You are foreigners here, they will rip you off.” They first took us to a different restaurant. After speaking in Hindi to the woman behind the counter he told us-“Two meat entrees with rice are $10 and 2 vegetables with rice are $7. Drinks are in a cooler over there.” After a few conversations with other customers, Olive found us a nice table. Once we had our food & beverages & were sitting, Jay said “We are going to a return visit and will be back for you soon. If there is anything else you need they will take good care of you here.” And boy did they! For one thing they refused to take our money! Several times we tried to pay and they would not let us. We wondered if Jay had sneakily paid for us, but we found out that he had not. The entire staff came out to talk to us at some point or other. They brought us dessert too. I felt like a celebrity. I suppose they all wanted to know what these two white women were doing there, and in sarees no less. Near the end of our visit a man from Nepal, who it turns out cooks the Chinese food (Wish we’d known about that sooner, sorry Dad), came out and talked to us. So we were able to practice our Nepali, and we went back later and gave him the What Does The Bible Really Teach Book and an invite to the Hindi Convention. He gave us his number & address, and we gave it to Jay & Olive. Oh and the food was delicious, but too spicy for Dad so he couldn’t eat very much.

Olive came back without Jay (Their call had turned into a study & she left him & another sister there). She took us to several shops. In, walk around, look a bit “You don’t see anything you like-lets go” On to the next one…The last place she took us was a little shopping center that had 3 different shops, so she dropped us there & went back for Jay. When they came back We found what we wanted. Rebecca Lynn’s was marked $130 and the 2 I liked had no price at all on the tags. Olive told us to let Jay negotiate the price. So Jay starts the negotiation. He asks her to give them to us for $50 each. The lady shakes her head no vigorously & says “I honest lady, give you bottom price see (pointing to a sign advertising a 14^th anniversary sale) my shop here 14 years” She shows us how good the material is and talks about that it is quality work, and the embroidery & pattern woven in make us agree. But she would not go low enough for Jay. They start talking (sometimes almost shouting) in Hindi. (Rebecca Lynn understands a bit because it is similar to Nepali) This is approximately what was said:

He says “Don’t rip them off”

She tells him “They are Americans they have lots of money”

“They are servants of God, they don’t have any money”

“They can’t afford that they have no money”

“God will bless you if you give them a good deal”

We are starting to think it’s too much & she won’t go low enough, not to mention being somewhat embarrassed, okay mortified, by what he is saying about us, so Olive & I start to walk out the door. She calls us back and shows a price on her calculator (so her other customers can’t see what a good price she’s giving us I suppose) of $75 each. Now that we could manage, since we really did like the outfits very much.

After all of that Jay gave her an invitation to the Hindi District Convention in Brooklyn and she says she might come.So I guess it was friendly after all.

When we got home and told this story to Mom & Aunt Linda we were laughing so hard by the end we could hardly stand up. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I hope we can go back next summer.

And here is yesterday's page:

And a Closeup:

Hope You enjoy. More soon Including a new Challenge at Clear It Out on Tuesday.

Clear It Out

2011-07-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have joined the design team for Clear It Out! Check it out here: http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com/
On the first and third Tuesdays of every month there is a new challenge...and even prizes. Here is my card for the "Anything Goes" challenge:

The Hot air balloon is a Glitterbabe digi stamp. You still have until Monday to enter. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with...See you there.

Cards & other Pretty Stuff

2011-05-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

First up a reminder that there's still time to comment on my One Little Word post for May and be entered to win!

Edited 5/16 My projects below were picked so that I am the DT Spotlight Designer today Yay! Thank you Jenn!

My items for this month's SCF-DT were made from these Beautiful digital stamps by Lil Ellaboudy-Design at mygrafico. The set is called Natural Beauties:

I was so inspired by how lovely they are that I just kept on making more, and even a scrapbook page (Look at my last post to see).

I was also inspired by another cute stamp this one is the Pick a Flower stamp by JD Digi Designs, also at my grafico.

The challenge blog at A Day for Daisies had a challenge about babies last week and I made this card:

And although I missed the cutoff for entering it in the challenge, I still wanted to share it, cause it's so Purty. The poem continues inside & is called "Time Well Spent" by Joanna Fuchs.

In other news, One of my Items on Etsy, the Elegant Silk Scarf was chosen to be included in Plum Creek 22's Medley of Teal Delights treasury. I am so honored. Thank you!

Elegant Silk Scarf

I will be back with more LOAD pages in a few days.

More LOAD Layouts

2011-05-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have had a busy month so far & it promises to get busier still. Ryan's last day of school is the 23rd (Whose idea was it to make the last day of school a Monday?) But here are the pages I promised to share:

Day 6 This started as a companion page for day 5-but I wanted to use all the pics. (Can you tell the title is "Smoke" from the smokestack on the train?) The prompt was about alignment.

Day 7 (was also National Scrapbooking Day cool right!) I used some of the prompts from BPC's Creative Crop to make this page. As well as scraplifting the idea (but not the design) from one of the other LOADers. Scraplifting was the prompt.

Day8 (Beginning of Color Week) prompt was to use Color to enhance the page's topic

I got to use up an old ScrapJammies kit from 2006 (not quite the waythey designed it though close), and used the Red & bright patterns to show the effervescent personality of my kiddo.

Day 9 she showed us a really neat ColorScope from Paper Source, & told us to pick a color we were drawn to & make a page. This color is called Papaya, and don't the peacocks pop off the page?

These pics were from Ryan's field trip to the zoo. I asked him to write what he wanted to remember about the peacocks, and he made the cute doodle & wrote peacock (in his adorable 2nd grade spelling) over & over. It really added to the page. I also used a sketch from Lisa Day's 28 Days of sketches class at BPC.

Day 10 was to use a color combination from nature. I used the colors from the peacock pictures I used the day before.


Don't you just love these butterflies! They are from a set called Natural Beauties by Lil Ellaboudy Designs at mygrafico

I used a sketch from the CropStop Challenge Blog. As well as the LYM challenge for this week. Which was to scrap the "gadgets" you use in everyday life. So this page about my Computer & PSE.

Day 11was Black & White:

I completely love this page! I already had the B&W pic with the feet in color, & just hadn't figured out how to use it yet. This was the perfect challenge. And don't you just love baby feet?

Day 12 Pick a color you DON'T normally use on a page & combine it with a favorite:

I don't use green much except as a small accent, and though I Love pink, I don't use it that much either, so I had fun with this one. I also used the ScrapHappy sketch for May, adapted of course.

Day 13 I didn't really follow the prompt instead used another of Lisa's sketches:

A very busy page, showing the highlights from the zoo trip. I wanted the focus to be on the story rather than any particular picture. And Ryan colored the snake because it was his favorite out of all the animals we looked at.

I haven't done today's page yet. Stay tuned for some more next week.

LOAD Day 5

2011-05-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

Wow it's day 5 already & I haven't posted any layouts for you so here they are all in one shot:

Day 1 prompt-Basics, just Picture, Paper, Title, & Journaling

Day 2 Prompt: Contrast (show it using something other than color)

She said if you're going to contrast by making the element big- make it really big- so I did

I also did this week's LYM prompt here, which was to use a timeline. Tried to do some different things with this one, using a clustering technique I learned from TrueScrap (BTW truescrap2 is coming in OctoberYay!!) & bulky flowers don't scan too well, but I think it still looks okay. Here are close ups of each side:

Day 3 prompt was Emphasis, Emphasize one thing over the others, don't try to emphasize everything not sure I did too well with that:

These are from Field Day- Just last Friday-Here are the close ups:

Day 4 Prompt was white space again, I didn't leave too much white space, but I was in a bit of a hurry & used a template:

Close ups again- (BTW look how little Ryan was!):

And Day 5 prompt Visual triangle:

My nephew Aaron has just learned to crawl

Not sure why but this LO took nearly as long as the timeline one, probably because I really wanted to use the triangle to showcase those gorgeous Eyes, and so I fiddled with it a lot.

And when I finally looked at the LOAD message board this morning, I discovered that I won a prize on Day one from @thebigbluebarn...(not for the LO but for leaving lots of comments, I haven't had time to do that as much since that day, but hopefully tomorrow I can catch up on the LOs I've missed this week)I am really excited!! I will do my best to keep sharing my pages with you, at least weekly, the rest of the month. & speaking of prizes, don't forget to check out my May OLW blog hop post-There's a giveaway & you have until the 22nd to qualify.

One Little Word Blog Hop-May

2011-05-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Edited: Sorry There were some technical difficulties earlier but I think we're working now!

Welcome to my blog! I am Katrina and this is where I ramble about my life. I am a single mother and professional crafter so this blog has lots of parenting as well as scrapbooking & crochet stuff. If you came from Monica you are in the right place, if not, it is a circle so you can go on from here and circle back around and still hit all the blogs. Margie is the organizer and founder of this hop as well as the first one on the list, she did a lot of work to put it together so be sure to check out her blog and say thanks!! Keep reading for the link to the next blog...

Wow can you believe it is May already? I can't, but it makes me happy because it means warmer weather is on its way!!! It also means the beginning of another LOAD. If you've never done or heard of LOAD I highly recommend you check it out. It stands for Layout a Day-You get a prompt every day, which you can do or ignore at your choosing, and if you complete & upload a layout each day to the Flickr gallery not only do you get wonderful comments from the other LOADers but you also are eligible to win a grand prize at the end...plus there are little prizes throughout...And the best part is- you get a whole bunch of scrapbooking done!

In April our OLW challenge was to write a letter to your future self. Mine gets pretty emotional so I will only share a part of it with you-

...I used to love April, all the little bits of spring that are starting to pop up, the trees are blooming, the grass is hinting at greenness...but for the past 8 years it has seemed like an old friend that betrayed me. April always brought so much pain. But each year it gets a little better. My wish for you is that you love April again, and while it will probably always be somewhat melancholy, I hope there are more memories that make you smile each year and that you dwell less and less on the ones that make you cry...

We were also to get a photograph of ourselves again in April. This was easy because I already had an appointment for family photos. Here is the one of me:

My Little Man

Our Family of two

and here is my favorite:

It's not because you can't see my face (as someone suggested) It's the EMOTION of this picture, just look at that sad little face! I am so privileged to be the comforter & champion of this sweet little boy.

April was a busy month and an emotional one so I am relieved that it is over...May will be better!!

I can hardly wait to see what our prompt is for May...

Last month we had a giveaway and only 3 people mentioned their favorite color or flower- but I decided to give everyone a shot anyway and our winner (thanks to the random number picker) is: #3 Julie Ann Shahin (she just happened to be one that gave her color too) Julie said: "Huge congrats on your DT's, that is fantastic! I'm so jealous of your crochet abilities. Sounds like you had a wonderful month. Best of luck in April. My favorite color is yellow! xoxo"

Thanks so much Julie! and congrats to you too!
I think the giveaways are so much fun that I am going to do it again!!! So as long as you don't mind waiting a month or so to get a bookmark from me (sorry Cassie- I promise to put it in the mail on Monday. I thought it was already sent, but I found it in my car yesterday) comment for me and you just might win.
Don't forget to give some comment love to the other blog participants too.

BTW: there is a coupon in my sidebar that is good for free shipping from my ETSY store and there are some bookmarks you just might love.

Your next stop is: Julie Ann (Is that a coinkydink or what? It is, I promise)
And in case anyone gets lost-here is the whole shebang:

Margie	http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Lisa Allen	www.backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Abbey R	http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Jill C.	http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
Sam	http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Amanda K.	http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Cheri A.	http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Rebekah P.	http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Lynn W.	http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Nikki	http://www.inkyart.com.au
Monica B2	http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/
Chrissy	http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/

Jen S.	www.byjen.com
Monica B1	http://www.Scraplifters.blogspot.com
Katrina	http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/	You	Are	Here
Julie Ann	http://julieannshahin.blogspot.com	Next
Jenn	www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Donna B	http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
Cindy	http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Jamie	http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
Karen D	http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/

Journaling & inspiration made easy.

2011-04-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today I am thinking of SUMMER. I am planning to visit family on the East Coast this summer and can hardly wait for some beach time. As a busy mom I have to carve out time to scrapbook, and I don't always want to spend 7 hours moving things around on a layout or thinking about what to say. Especially during summer (or whenever school is out). But I do want to enjoy my scrapbooking time. So here are some of my favorite techniques for simplifying the process:

My Best Journaling tip is: If you don't know how to say it-

Let someone else say it for you.

Sometimes you already know what you want to say, and sometimes explanations any your own words are important But often you can let someone else do the work. This can be done in many ways such as recording a conversation you had or overheard, you can use emails or texts, and once in a while you might even literally hand a page & pen to someone else and ask them to write. Song Lyrics or Quotes (I love DCWV quote stacks. They are even pretty already) can make great titles or embellishments and can often "speak" your thoughts quite well.
One of my favorites is poetry. I love using poetry because it is about emotion-something I really try to capture in my layouts.

Made using Jennifer's Spring Break Page Kit (find it here )

For this page I used a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. He captured digging in the sand far better than I ever could. One of my favorite websites for poetry is www.famouspoetsandpoems.com. I love that I can search by poet or by subject and find all kinds of ready made, emotional or not, journaling right there. It's easy to use as well- you can copy & paste it right into your word processing program or even Photoshop Elements text tool. I also love that all of my favorite classical poets are in one place.

I did the same with this card:

Papers & Elements from Jennifer's Waiting for Spring Page Kit.

In this case I only used one stanza out of the six in Wordsworth's poem. there is nothing wrong with taking the parts you want, and leave out the rest (if you are publishing your page or card, you should make sure that you let people know that in the credits). If you are leaving out something in the middle use ...

There are lots of quote & poem sites now, and song lyrics too. If you don't know where to look try your search bar- in this case I searched for "Spring Poems" and found just what I wanted.

I personally love to use scripture as well- one of my favorite examples is this page:

In this case the scripture just happens to be poetry as well. And it describes the beauty of fall perfectly, in my opinion.

My best quick design tip is: If you don't want to spend hours trying to decide where to put your pictures-

Let someone else do it for you!

Wait a minute, didn't I just say that? Okay so maybe these tips are kinda similar but really, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just flip through your favorite magazine or turn to your favorite Layout gallery... There are so many talented scrapbookers and designers that you can get inspiration from. I know what you're thinking but repeat after me "Lifting is NOT cheating" okay now whenever you need to just remind yourself of that okay? okay. Take your favorite Magazine for example: they have designers and ad execs who get paid big bucks for deciding what colors to put together and where things go best on a page. I didn't go to design school, but I can be just as classy in my scrapbooks by using their experience to my advantage One of my favorite magazines is Real Simple. I was flipping through and saw this ad:

Right away I liked it. At first glance it doesn't scream "Scrapbook Layout" but I really liked the diagonal strip. When you break it down into shapes & colors you can see a prominent title, a journaling spot and places for 3 photos. So here is what I did:

Made using Jennifer's Spring Break Page Kit (find it here )

In this case I really stayed true to the shapes & lines of the ad. Another example is this layout:

Like the ripples?- Tutorial here

Would you ever think I got the idea from this ad:

I also like to lift other scrapbookers. Check out my earlier post about the Lift it Up Challenge here. I lifted another fabulous LO to get this one:

I used these papers by dilek designs and a digital stamp from this set by LaLa studio. They are both from MyGrafico who sponsors the design team I am on at http://scf-designteam.blogspot.com/

(Post updated with this LO)


Page by Tambur McDonald- Thanks Tambur!

Challenges are also great ways to get inspired by other people. There are many blogs that have challenge inspirations- sometimes they are contests and some are just for fun. I think the best part is looking at what others have done with the same challenge. For the above I used the weekly challenge from Log Your Memory.

There are even some blogs that keep track of other blog challenges like Feline Playful and The Daily Dare.

And there are always sketches & templates too...So now it's your turn. I challenge you to use one of the above tips to create something and share a link in the comment section if you like.

Sketch Contest

2011-04-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

Scrapbooking & Crafting Friends is having a sketch contest this month.
The prize is a years subscription to ReadySetCreate's eMagazine. You have until April 22nd to enter.

Check it out here.
This is the sketch:

I had fun with it and made this cute card using the adorable papers in this set by dilek design studio.

One Little Word Blog Hop-April

2011-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! If you are following the hop you should have come from Stacey- if not and you want to check out the other stops start with Margie. Margie organizes the hop and does a lot of work to make it happen- thanks Margie!!

Last month I had a giveaway of a crocheted flower bookmark, and it went to Cassie_lu. Cassie's favorite flower is a dogwood- creamy white with pink at the tips. And this is how it came out:

This picture is actually way bigger than the actual flower it came out about 1.5" diameter.

I hope you like it Cassie! It's in the mail today. If you want one...keep reading...
At the end of February I didn't have enough grow pictures...but thanks to some great ideas (some from you) I ended up with 2 pages of pictures.

Here is the whole collection:

One of the things I have been wanting to grow is my business. Sooo during March I applied for and was accepted onto 2 design teams and I am really excited!! Check out some of my March posts for my first projects.

As part of my emotional growth I signed up to take Write Down to your Nitty Gritty at BPC and it has me working hard and digging deep. It is such a powerful tool. I also did Stacy's iScrap class it was another amazing Growth Experience...I still haven't finished all of the journaling, but I'm working on it.

And the challenge in my Log Your Memory Planner for this week was a good one too-10 things that make me smile (except I couldn't stop at 10). Part of my growth is stopping to appreciate things (It helps keep me from losing my temper).

Here's my page:

Coming into April I have a really busy month ahead...I am attending True Scrap, I am teaching a page class at my Local Scrapbooking store, my one annual holiday (The Memorial of Christ's Death) is April 24th (And is also the anniversary of my husband's death 8 years ago) and if that wasn't enough- I signed up to increase my ministry to 30 hours during April (I can hardly wait)...Lets just hope we all stay as healthy as possible!

And for those of you who read that entire thing...I have another giveaway- once again I will pick a random commenter and send them a crocheted flower in their choice of color...I can't guarantee I can make your favorite flower...but if I can I will. And in the spirit of growth-(decluttering my scrap studio is growth) I will throw in some random scrap stuff to grow your stash a little bit...Just leave me a comment with your favorite color & flower (and maybe some love) by April 10th, and you're eligible. And if you don't win, but you still want one...here is a link to my ETSY shop (I only have a couple flowers on there right now, but special orders are always accepted. If you order in April and use the Code on the sidebar you'll get free shipping (U.S. Only please)).
Your next stop is Rebekah and in case you get lost or want to jump around here is the entire list:

Margie	http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Amanda	http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Donna	http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
Joy	www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com
Jan	http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jamie	http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
Nikki	http://www.inkyart.com.au
Monica B2	www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Cindy	http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Stacey	http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
Katrina	http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/
Rebekah	http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Monica	http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
Chrissy	http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
Jill	http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
Lisa	http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
Kathryn	www.katlodesigns.com
Jennifer	www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Jen	www.byjen.com
Sam	http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Miranda	http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
Lynn	www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Cynthia	http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
Cheri A	http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Deb	http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
Nicky	www.seejanebake.blogspot.com
Karen D	http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/
Tina	http://ryzmomplus2.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Kimberly	http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
Abbey	http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Julie Ann Lisa	http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog/

I hope to see you next month.

Jennifer Steffen' s Design Team

2011-03-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

I was chosen to be on a design team for Jennifer Steffen Check out her website here: http://jennscrapbooks4u.com/, and shop for her fabulous digital designs here.

And this is my first official project as a member of the team:

I have been an admirer (and user) of Jennifer's page kits & digital elements for a while now and I am honored to be a part of the team. The card and this Layout:

were made using her Waiting For Spring page kit. I LOVE it!
Thanks Jenn!

Scrapbooking & Crafting Friends Design Team 1st Projects

2011-03-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

So I am officially a design team member at Scrapbooking & Crafting Friends and here are my first projects!!! They are made from Shapes Designed by revidevi. You can find them at mygrafico here.

Dress Up Party Invitation

I am so excited to be a part of this team and I hope I can live up to the challenge.

Lift Me up Challenge

2011-03-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

SOAR Award 2 a photo by kskreations on Flickr.

As I mentioned before, I took the Lift Me Up Challenge and got to lift from the fabulous Karla Dudley.
Karla hosted the lift me up challenge here.

I had a really hard time choosing what to lift, she has so many gorgeous pages but I finally chose this one:

And here is my page:

If you have followed this blog you will understand that this layout is HUGE, ( in meaning not sizewise). Ryan has had a rough year to say the least. But last Friday, he got this award from the school for "Outstanding S.O.A.R. behavior" S.O.A.R. stands for: Showing respect, On task, Always safe and Responsible.

This has not been the way he would have been described during the first half of the year-At ALL. His teacher nominated him because she has seen such a big improvement in effort and attitude this quarter. So I guess that means that the hard work that she and I have put in is paying off, and his medicine is WORKING!!! Yay!!!

Scrapbooking & Crafting Friends Design Team

2011-03-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

So the first news is that I just joined the Scrapbooking & Crafting Friends Design Team. Check out their Blog here. This is my first design team ever, so I am really excited...still working on my first project for them look for it soon.

Next, I took the Lift Me Up Challenge and was assigned to lift from fabulous Karla Dudley (check out more of her work here). And here is the page I lifted

Check back Monday for my page. Oh and if you were one of my commenters for the OLW BLog hop you have maybe been wondering who won, and the answer, thanks to the random number generator is: ( insert Drumroll here)

Commenter # 8 Cassie_lu who said: "great grow pictures"
Cassie I will be contacting you to find out your favorite color so I can make your bookmark. Congrats!

A Couple Layouts

2011-03-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

I had an amazing spiritually upbuilding weekend, and...It's almost Monday already (hear the sobs?) So to brighten your day (and mine), I wanted to share a couple of my recent layouts. I have an opportunity to teach a class at my Local Scrapbook Store, and this is a page I'm thinking of teaching. My class would include all the supplies and how to make the 5 different ribbon flowers (many of which I found tutorials online for). I also put this little "book" (is it a book with only one little flip thing? I'm not sure what to call it) that I just love. Here are some close ups (mostly because I want to share these photos from my parents wedding!)

So I'm wondering- Is this a class anyone would want to take? What do I charge? Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

And here is a page about a certain frustrating situation from last week:

It was a sketch from Scrap Happy (If you haven't heard of it you should really check it out).

One Little Word March Blog Hop

2011-03-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

So If you are joining me for the blog hop Welcome! You should have come from Karen.
If not you're still Welcome-and if you want to check out the blog hop from the beginning go see Margie.
My name is Katrina. I am a widow and a SAHM with one amazing, precocious 8 year-old son named Ryno (Okay we just call him that, he's really Ryan.) I love the FlyLady, BPC and ScrapHappy. I scrapbook, crochet and volunteer at my local Elementary School.
Anywhoo back to One Little Word...

I've had a little trouble finding pictures that go with "Grow" for some reason. At the beginning of the month I had some great ideas. I took those pictures and then no more ideas! (Just as I typed that I remembered one that I forgot to take, But I've got it now!) Well, I am going to keep working on it because one of my favorite Scrapbook Ladies says "You are never behind in scrapbooking" And the FLyLady say "You are not behind, you are just getting started" So I am just going to keep moving forward with baby steps where necessary. To find out more about me and my word check out this previous post.
Like many of you, I have just finished LOAD which was certainly a growth experience. And I did at least one layout every single day in February-personally I did 32 Layouts in 28 days! I never would have thought it. Now I know I can do it!!! So here are a few of my pictures for "GROW"

My Scrapbook Album After LOAD. (I just thought of using this I'm so glad I did)


See those tiny little leaves that mean new growth? This plant is in my kitchen and has been in danger of dying more than once, but it just keeps on surviving and even growing.

At one time the little one was Ryan's shoe, now he wears the bigger one.


And look how fast he is outgrowing those pants!


The other day I noticed this in my tiny little sheltered flower bed. It's Crocus Hooray! Spring is coming!! It's Growing warmer and my flowers are starting to grow!


The Growth Chart on my son's bedroom wall (The one I just took)

1. I hope you have enjoyed this little peek at me & my life. I am a sporadic blogger, but have gotten more consistent lately. More to rave about? Perhaps. More to rant about? Certainly, and I can always ramble.

I am a crocheter too and sometimes crochet things that scrapbookers can use so check out my ETSY store and leave a comment (here) about what your favorite item is or what you would like to see on there or a hint about how I might "Grow" my Etsy business, Or some picture ideas for Grow? (or if you just want to comment about the blog post that is okay too). I will be giving one random commenter a crocheted flower bookmark in their favorite color. (U.S. Only Please)

Next on the hop is: Monica and in case anyone got lost here is the whole list:

1. Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

2. Monica B http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/

3.    Jill                        http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

4.    Miranda                 http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com

5.    Donna                        http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com

6. Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

7. Stacey http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog

8. Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

9. Cassie http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com

10. Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

11. Nicky http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

12. Holly http://lovingrobots.blogspot.com

13. Karen http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com

14. Claudia http://creative-moms.com

15. Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

16. Kimberly http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com

17. Kat www.katswonderings.blogspot.com

18. Kristina http://ciqis.blogspot.com

19. Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

20. Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/

21. Amanda www.scrappnbee.blogspot.com

22. Lisa http://luluoz.typepad.com

23. Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

24. Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com

25. Kristi http://theprojectofme.wordpress.com

26. Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com

27. Karen http://womenontractors.blogspot.com

28. Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

29. Monica Bergler http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

30. Mandy http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com

31. Lisa http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com

32. Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com

33. Lee http://linarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife

34. Jen www.byjen.com

35. Sylvia http://baxtersmom1.blogspot.com/

36. Christianne http://christiannemarra.blogspot.com/

37. Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

38. Joy www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com

39. Beth http://justbebeth.wordpress.com/

40. Jennifer L www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

41. Kathryn www.katlodesigns.com

42. Heather www.scrappyhare.blogspot.com

43. Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com

44. Cynthiau http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/

Thanks for Visiting!

Digital Ripple Tutorial

2011-02-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

I finished LOAD today! 28 days and 31 layouts! Hooray! As well as :( I can't believe it's over, and can hardly wait for May already. Though I might actually get some housework done between now and then.

Here is my page for today:

Do you like it? Well there is a way to create these ripples in Adobe Photoshop Elements. And here's how I did it:

1. In a new document open the elliptical marquee tool.

2. Once you have decided where to put the center ripple click there and hold the shift key while you drag your mouse to make a small circle.

3. Stroke/outline selection. I used 25 pixles for the center.

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 several times making progressively larger circles, varying the stroke size and the space between circles. (Hint if you can't get the circle where you want it create a new layer just for that circle, then you can nudge it where you want it and merge the layers)

5. When your first set of ripples is as large as you want it, create a new layer and make a new center circle away from the first center. (I changed colors to make it easier to see.)

6. Make another smaller set of ripples using steps 2 & 3 again

7. Make as many additional ripples as you want.

8. When you have all the ripple circles you want, use the magic wand tool to select between each circle of the secondary ripples (make sure "Add to Selection" is highlighted).

9. Select the layer with your first set of ripples and hit delete on the keyboard. This will delete rings between the secondary ripples.

10. Deselect.

11. Right click on the top layer in the layer pallet. Merge the two layers together so that they become one layer. (Merge Down)

12. In the Layer Styles bin select Bevels and Simple Emboss Apply to the layer.

13. Select the digital paper you want to have ripples on. (I chose to use a solid color for this demonstration) Add the paper in a new layer on top of the ripples layer.

14. When you have the paper where you want it create a duplicate of the paper layer.

15. Move one of the paper layers to the back.

16. Make sure you have selected the top paper layer. In the Layers menu click on create clipping mask (or you can press control & G at the same time on the clipboard)

Voila you have ripples!

I hope you like this. Please let me know if you try it and share any projects you make. (And if there are any important screen shots I missed, I've never done a tutorial before)

Thanks!

Oh By the way, join me tomorrow in the One Little Word Blog Hop- Starting at 8am Pacific Time (11 Eastern time) with Margie here: http://xnomads.typepad.com.

It should be a lot of fun and there will probably be some giveaways. I'm super excited! Hope to see you there!

Tuesday Morning Rant #483

2011-02-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

I'm in such a snit this morning that I thought I would share...isn't that sweet of me? Actually I really need some ideas. I had an awesome plan for this morning and I "flubbed it" (as Michaleen Oge Flynn says in the Quiet Man).

The background is that we have gotten into the pattern of having a power struggle every school morning. First the boy will not get out of bed- I have tried the loudest alarm clock I could find-he doesn't even hear it that I can tell. I can hear it from downstairs clear as day and he just keeps on sleeping! I have also tried LOUD pumping music, tearing off the covers and turning on a fan, splashing cold water on him, and finally have resorted to physically grabbing him under the arms and standing him up. At that point it used to work to tell him that he was going to miss the bus-he no longer cares, he doesn't even mind if I charge Taxi fees to drive him, he hasn't had any allowance money left after taxi fees for 2 weeks, and he doesn't even care any more. He has more than once declared "I am not going to school and you can't make me!" Well he hasn't gotten away with that-he has not missed school on the days when he has so declared, but he has missed enough from illness and appointments that unless he is throwing up or has a fever he is going to school even if I have to physically drag him down the stairs (Which I have done once). Last Wednesday I got him out the door with just enough time to get to the bus, and he came back a few minutes later. "What happened?" "I walked slow and missed the bus." So I got ready to take him while (unbeknownst to me) he was locking himself in his room. He then yelled "I'm not going to School and you can't make me" So I unlocked his door and he was hiding under the bed. I went downstairs and called the school psychologist. A few minutes later I told him that she wanted to meet him and he calmly got in the car and went to school. He was even cheerful and playing that he was driving! I met with her on Thursday (he had a field trip so he actually wanted to go, but not bad enough to take the bus) she is going to do some checking to see if he is having trouble on the bus, but mostly she thinks, and I agree, that it is just a pattern he has gotten into, and it will not be easy to change.

So I brainstormed with some friends and my Love & Logic instructor and came up with a plan.

Then I did a dry run on Friday to try to find holes in the plan and plug them.(big mistake 'cause he was prepared this morning) Here is how it went: I put him on the front porch with his jacket backpack, socks & shoes, (In time to make it to the bus) locked the door behind him and got in my car. Then the garage door would not close (hole #1)-so I pretended not to notice and drove away (the door to the house was locked so he couldn't get in) I drove around the corner and waited about 10 minutes. Then I drove back and said "Somebody told me the garage door was open so I came back" (Not a lie because I told myself). "You didn't close it Mom!" "You missed the bus huh, how sad! I guess you have to pay me to drive you" "I can't believe you did that Mom" "Better get in, I have an appointment and I'm already late" So he got in and I drove him to school. Score one for Ryan.

Here is the email I sent to Ryan's Teacher, the School Principal and the School Psychologist on Friday-

I want to give you a heads up and ask for  input...I've been having a terrible time getting Ryan out of the house in the  morning.  It has come to my attention that this is because he knows I will be  home and is hoping to stay home with me, so on  Tuesday we will be having a Love & Logic strategic training session. This is  the plan so far:  Ready or not I will be putting Ryan out of the house at 7:32  am (with any necessities not already on his person in his backpack or on the  porch like coat, shoes & socks etc.)  This will give him plenty of time to  put them on & get to the bus should he so choose.  He has already been  informed that I have a commitment and will be leaving at the same time as him. I  will then get in my car and leave, I plan to be gone at least an hour...If he  chooses not to go to the bus stop (a choice he has made a few times lately) he  will not be able to get back in the house.  (I am working on recruiting  assistance from the neighbors for surveillance & possible assistance with  his problem from there).  

Do you have any input on this? I would really  appreciate any comments or suggestions...I want this to be a learning experience  (i.e. uncomfortable) but not harmful.

Lest you say "that is mean", please know that this is an Absolute Last Resort, that I talked to my neighbors and made sure they would be looking out for him, and made sure he had a warm jacket, shoes and socks in his backpack, it was 36 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside (So he would be cold but not freeze) and everything would be safe. I let him know ahead of time that I had an appointment this morning and would have to leave at the same time as his bus. And I got the garage door opener fixed (or so I thought, it wouldn't close again this morning).

So I was all prepared to do it for real this morning... and I could not get the boy downstairs! ( I grabbed him by the hand to physically lead him, but he got away and ran to his room screaming "You don't know how hard it is to be me! You don't care about me, all you care about is if I get out of the house!" to which I responded "Nice try, I love you too much not to make sure you get a chance at a good education") By the time we got downstairs he had already missed the bus-which was his plan all along! Once again he got me to drive him to school. And while I was fuming, he was all cheerful and lovey.

I am going crazy with this morning power struggle. I hate that this is how I am relating with my son, that I am resorting to physically grabbing him by the hand and dragging him, but he has to go to school! I am at a loss. I do not know what else to do.

LOAD day 21 In Ryan's eyes

2011-02-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

I have been seriously lax in sharing my LOAD pages so I'll share a few.

I agonized over today's and whether I wanted people to actually see these pictures of me (Yikes) that were taken by my son...I finally decided that even though he specializes in Lazy Saturday, Not showered, No makeup and/or End of a busy day, Messy hair, Makeup worn away photography, he seems to capture the real me better than anyone so here it is:

I saw a LO yesterday where they had asked their child the questions in Stacy Julian's book-Big Picture Scrapbooking. I have the book and love it! I asked him these questions several years ago, and it was time to do it again! So here is the Q&A done yesterday and used on today's layout:
What is something your Mom always says to you?
Mom always says “I love you forever I like you for always as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be”
What makes Mom Happy?
Protein Bars
What makes Mom sad?
When she accidently head butts the wall on purpose (When did that happen? In my dream.)
How does Mom make you laugh?
Air tickles! Sometimes even hits herself on the head
How old is Mom?
35
How tall is Mom?
18 inches & nine yards
What is her favorite thing to do?
Mom’s favorite thing to do is make her hair look all spiky to make me laugh
What does she do when you are not around?
She watches TV until her head comes off
If she was famous what would it be for?
You would be famous for eating chocolate balls until your brain rots
What is Mom really good at?
She’s really good at GETTING ON MY NERVES!
What is Mom really not good at?
She’s really not good at pulling her head off
What is Mom’s job?
Mom’s job is being a Mom
What is Mom’s favorite food?
Protein Bars
What makes you proud of Mom?
She tucks me in at night and reads me stories
If Mom was a cartoon Character who would she be?
Batgirl
What do you and Mom do together?
Puzzles, Family Worship and get on each other’s nerves sometimes
How are you and Mom the same?
We’re both people
How are you and Mom different?
Mom’s a grownup and I’m not
How do you know Mom Loves you?
She hugs me and kisses me whenever I leave for school and whenever I get home.

Our children have the strangest ideas about us sometimes. Some inspire reflection, and hopefully improvement. Some were said to be funny. Some are not nice-because he was annoyed that the interview went on for so long, some are just plain wrong. All are worth recording and remembering.

Yesterday the prompt was to embrace imperfection, by intentionally making a "mistake". I figured that if anyone could help me embrace imperfection, my 8 year old could so I had him make up and write the title, and I used it misspelling and all.

Here are a few others:

Day 19 My maternal grandparents circa 1950

Day 18-5 item Friday-5Patterned Papers My childhood jungle gym:

Day 17 It's true I am a glitter addict.

Day 16 4 years old and covered in paint? Oh yeah!

Day 15 The story of my son's early childhood fear of "Buddy Buh Buh" (AKA Ronald McDonald), how did he get that nickname you ask? The jingle from McDonald's commercials of course! You know "Ba da ba ba bah I'm lovin' it"

Day 14 is a true portrayal of the contents of my Purse & Tote (including trash) before I cleaned them out that morning.

Day 10

Stay tuned there will be more soon!

How to motivate a second grader Part 2

2011-02-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

Warning this is a long post-but kinda funny, if I do say so myself.
As mentioned in How to motivate a second grader part 1. Ryan has ha a little trouble at school this year. Homework around here is probably the way it is in most homes with an ADHD kid-it usually consists of me and Ryan in the kitchen, me saying "What is the answer to this question(problem)?" while Ryan is fidgeting and changing the subject as much as possible, with me trying to steer the attention back to the homework and asking for the answer again and so on and so forth, over and over again...
In January they (the whole second grade) had to do a biography project. They worked on it at school a little, but it was mostly an at home project. At the beginning of the month he brought home a sheet asking for his top 3 choices of people to do the project on. They had to be Americans and people who had "Made America Better". They couldn't belong to the list of people they had already studied about in school. This was the beginning of an epic and the end of my Love and Logic skills for that day. Rebecca Lynn was over (For more info on her click here) and apparently her skills weren't quite up to par that day either because is how it went:

"Do you have any idea who you want to do Ryan?"
"Uh-uh" (AKA "No and I don't care")
"Would you like us to help you look some people up on the internet?"
"Guess so"
"Do you have any names at all in your head?"
"George Washington Carver"
"What do you know about him?"
"Nothin' "
"Who Else?"
(shoulder shrug)
"What about an inventor?"
"Inventor's are boring"
"An Explorer?"
"Boring"
"A Scientist?"
"Boring"

You get the idea-this went on for about 2 hours, with us looking up people's names on the internet like the inventor of T.V and Video games, scientists who study about Snakes and/or Bugs (Ryan's favorite things) etc...everyone and every idea was "Boring". Eventually we had 3 names on the paper: Benjamin Franklin, Jesus and George Washington Carver. I tried telling him that Jesus was not an American and therefore was, unfortunately, not eligible. They had been studying about George Washington Carver in school already, and thus also, not eligible. But he insisted and so those names remained. Later that evening Rebecca Lynn called me and said "We sure let our Love and Logic skills fly out the window tonight!" And she was right. We allowed his homework to become our problem instead of his, and it was really HIS problem. So we all wound up frustrated and upset by the end of the evening.
The next day I was determined to remember my Skills! So I allowed him to forget his paper with the 3 names on it, as well as his planner. I did not remind him or make it my problem. That afternoon I got the email. And a week or so later he brought home the sheet with his choice of -you guessed it-Benjamin Franklin. Now don't get me wrong, he was a very interesting person. He lived an incredible life in an amazing time in history. He was an inventor/scientist, a writer, a businessman, and a diplomat. But every kid does Ben Franklin! (In fact 3 other kids in his class of 21 did who else-Ben Franklin) Couldn't we do someone else? Anyone else? (Making it my problem again, next time remind myself- use Love and Logic-Who's project is it?) But to my surprise he actually worked on the project. Sometimes it was as above-
"Ryan...Ryan...Ryan! When was he born?" "January 17, 1706, but Mom I got to tell you this really interesting thing that happened on the bus today..." "When was he born? Write it down Ryan" Over and over again and again...But one night I was at my "Becoming a Love and Logic Parent" class and left it up to the Babysitter to ~~argue~~ do homework with him. (Genius! I just need a sitter every night!) And he actually wrote some good sentences...with details. Here they are:

Ben Franklin was an inventor, he invented the Franklin stove. he was a hero of a calany amerika. Benjamin Franklin was born January 17, 1706 in boston, masachewsits.  he went to School for only two years.  his parents, Josiah and Abiah Franklin had 17 kids.  

 he taught himself four languages. He knew about science and math.  he proved lightning was electricity.

 he made good inventions. he helped stop slavery. he invented the lightning rod.

Another day I sat with him and we looked up some info together...And found some pictures to use. (Love and Logic was sort of there- kinda?) He wrote more sentences-eventually 3 paragraphs-I typed them (as written) and we together fixed what spellcheck found. Another night we put the poster board together. I did some printing and a little cutting (I couldn't let him use the guillotine trimmer could I?)- the rest was Ryan...(although we did raid my scrapbooking stash for letters and paper, the mats were my idea, but he liked the idea)

So the Benjamin Franklin project is finished- and I am so happy and proud I could just bust. Here is the (da da da dah)...Final Product:

Here are his 3 Paragraphs:

Ben Franklin was an inventor, he invented the Franklin stove. He was a hero of a colony America too. Benjamin Franklin was born January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts.  He went to School about a mile away from his house but for only two years.  When he was 10 he had to work in his dad’s candle and soap making shop. His parents, Josiah andAbiah Franklin had 17 kids.  

When Benjamin Franklin was 12 he became his brother’s apprentice. He worked very, very hard for 12 hours a day in a print shop every day except Sunday.  He studied whenever he could and taught himself four languages. He was a good writer. He was so good that his brother James printed some letters Ben wrote, using a fake name, in his newspaper. When his brother found out who really wrote the letters he was mad.  Ben learned about science and math too. So he did some experiments. After he grew up he proved lightning was electricity. 

Ben Franklin is famous for a lot of stuff. He made good inventions, like bifocals, and all his inventions were very impressive. He helped stop slavery. He invented the lightning rod. He signed the Declaration of Independence and he even helped to write it.

Last week he brought home his grade- P+ (which is the highest grade possible) And his teacher wrote a note on the bottom that says "Nice Work! I like how you added some interesting facts-some I never knew! :)

I immediately put it on the refridge, where it will probably stay until he is 22. He is somewhat proud himself-But me- I was just bursting with pride-almost like it was my project and not his! (See I totally owned it, {Sorry Jim & Foster, I'm still learning} but he did do the work).

Saturday ( the 5th) he started taking medicine for his ADHD. I didn't think it was helping until Thursday afternoon-He did 3 whole sheets of homework- (Are you ready for this)

Without Supervision!!!!

I know, I didn't believe it either, but he really did. I sat in the other room having a conversation with some friends and he did his homework. Only 2 or 3 times did he say "Mom I need help." And I said "Do the best you can, I'll look at it when I'm finished" and he did every single question. and of course I am not a teacher, but I think he got all the answers right too! So we shall see but I think we may have hit on the answer.

I am hoping, with the help of Love and Logic, his teacher and the school psychologist, that he may actually begin to Enjoy School, or at least not dread it (as in try everything he can to stay home-every morning). I'll give it a couple weeks and let you know.

LOAD day 8 Ryan my hero

2011-02-08T23:29:00.000-08:00

So it's no secret that I am a crafter. My scrapbooker self comes out daily this month with LOAD (For more information click on the link) and on a regular basis the rest of the year with Big Picture Classes (BPC), there is no hiding my yarn addiction since I carry a crochet project nearly everywhere I go.
As you know my Word this year is GROW.(for more info look at my last post). So part of my growth is to be more present with my son. When the day was drawing near to an end I headed downstairs to my scrapbook studio to do my page. My son followed along. He wanted to do a "craft" together. We ended up doing this page together:

I asked him for his favorite: 1.color 2. Food 3. TV show 4. Toy 5. Person 6. Human (if wondering why see # 5's answer) 7. Song 8. School subject. At one point he told me to look the other way, and he stuck his name on in letter stickers. He picked the "my hero" rub on (his first experience with rub ons- he was fascinated) he asked if he could use the gems, and did another "Look over there mom" thing and stuck the flower on with scotch tape. After everything was adhered (me putting glue dots on gems and buttons, him sticking them wherever he wanted) I realized it would be really nice to have his handwriting on it, so I asked him to write something he is good at and something he likes about himself on the quote paper. I was hoping for something a little more personal than " I like that I can go to the webkins website" especially since he hasn't been to that site in over a year, but I guess it will do. He is good at "vidio games" that is for sure! Seeing what he thinks

of himself tells me that I need to work on his self esteem a bit more.

He has been on ADHD meds since Saturday, and so far not much has changed here at home, we will have to see what his teachers think when they reevaluate this Friday. I hope that if school becomes easier for him, and focusing not so much struggle, he will start to see what a great kid he really is and not be so hard on himself.

My One Little Word

2011-02-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

Sometime in January I was inspired by an email to take a year long workshop taught by Ali Edwards called One Little Word. I have taken classes from Ali at BPC before, and in person at CKU, and have never failed to be inspired by her. In short the idea of One Little Word is for one word to inspire you for the year. (For more info click on the link) I was stuck between 3 different words for quite a while- which would I choose Balance, Nurture or Focus? I had already done a Layout with a list of goals for 2011 back in December. Here it is:

When I showed it to a friend she said I was selling myself short- that I was already a great mom (Are you tearing up yet? I am. I have such amazing friends) she said it should be to GROW as a mom.

When I got home I looked up the definition of grow (I had already looked up the others and still couldn't choose). I realized that I need to grow in many areas of my life. That I could Grow in nurturing, balance and focus and GROW as a person. I started to see growth all around me: my son's literal growth, plants with new growth. So in a way you could say the word GROW chose me. (I now see it in capital letters in my head).

Ever since my hubby died in 2003, I have felt stuck in so many ways. Looking back I can see that I have grown and changed and healed in many ways. It has been a gradual, sometimes not even noticeable, process...but it has been a process. So here is my January project:

Title page:

Beginnings photograph:

And here is my page where I (using a template from Ali) explored GROW, its definition, synonyms, and even some verses and quotes using the word GROW.

So here is to growth! It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

Color Inspiration

2011-02-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Our LOAD challenge today came from Stacy Julian. She is such an inspiration to me-I took a class from her at CKU in 2005 and have loved to learn from her ever since.

The challenge-To pick a photo with strong emotion and choose a color to pair it with that reflects that emotion.

I picked a picture of my son with his dad. Brad (my husband) died when my son was just 6 months old. So the emotions run strong and deep. I wanted to bring out the joy of the moment, so I chose yellow. But the sorrow still comes through with the blue I used as an accent...This bittersweet page is the result:

Please let me know what you think. By the way, my son said "Aww, that's sweet" when I showed it to him.

LOAD Day 5

2011-02-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

Our inspiration piece today was this Table of Contents from Real Simple:

Right after I saw it, I read Stacy Julian's blog. I was inspired to create a sort of Table of Contents of the year Using only 13 pictures from the whole year. (The blog talks about using 12 which I used on the right side)
Here is the result:

My Journaling is as follows:
January: The burned buns
Ryan got out of the tub, and dried himself off in front of the fireplace.
But he got too close and ended up with 2nd degree burns on his bottom.

February: Circuit Assembly
After lunch Ryan and I helped the M. Family clean tables & chairs in the cafeteria of the Green Center, Golden Colorado

March: Couch Wrestling
Ryan pretended (I think) he didn’t want his picture taken-mostly to have the fun of wrestling

April: Nearing The end of 1st Grade
Mrs. N. in front of her class. This was her first year of teaching and she is awesome!
P.S. Can you find Ryan in this picture?

May: Backyard Ball
George brought big Ryan with him to little Ryan’s study, then they played catch in the backyard.
This was the same day as the beginning of the swingset fiasco.

June: Digging for Dinosaurs
We took Hanna with us to the Dinosaur Resource Center. There were lots of fossils to look at. A window into the lab, and a special area for kids to explore.

July: Renaissance Festival
We met Darcy at Ren Fest She & I were in costume, & by the end of the day so was Ryan (sorta)

August: First TMS Bible Reading
A week after school started, Ryan gave his first Bible Reading on the Theocratic Ministry School. It was 2Kings 6:8-19 He did such a great job! We had a lot of visitors there to see it and went to Applebees after with Titi, Don & Krissy, Eve, & all the kiddos.
September: Rebecca Lynn & Ashme
We had a fun day of touristy stuff Garden of the gods, Bug Museum and dinner after.

October: My first LOAD
I took a self portrait using the mirror to put on my first LOAD layout ever.

November: Denver Aquarium
The kiddos had a day off from school, so Kim G. & I took our children to the Denver aquarium. They had such a great time.

December: Girls Spa Night
Becky Hume started a Beauti Control business so I decided to have a Spa at my house. We all did a lip treatment that looked so funny I had to get a picture, and had warm neck wraps.
Left to right-Kristina R, Robin F, Me, Amelia C.

First day of LOAD 2/11

2011-02-01T23:56:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of Layout A Day or LOAD. It was also a no-school day for Ryan because of below freezing temperatures here in southern Colorado. Thankfully it was an easy prompt, and I was inspired by a lovely picture of my mother's hand.

And this was the result.

Ryan was extremely cooperative today. Maybe my new Love & Logic skills are working? Maybe but more likely the fact that he was allowed to watch TV and play on his DS while I worked in my scrap studio. Probably not a great decision on my part.

So I have been taking a Love & Logic (L&L) Parenting class on Thursday evenings for 2 weeks now. I have been using L&L for quite a while, at least I used to use it when he was little. Unfortunately I had been slipping and yelling quite a bit lately. After some major frustration on both sides, we needed some serious changes. We started by negotiating and signing a contract. I agreed to take a 2 minute time-out in my room every time I started yelling, and Ryan agreed to "put energy into the household" (aka chores or room time) when he misbehaves. So as predicted, things are getting worse, he is pushing more & more. I know he needs to test his boundaries, to see if the changes are real. I know once he figures out that they are for real he won't need to test so much, but in the meantime it is soooo hard! He can push my buttons and twist my heart strings so easily. I must be strong, and stick to my guns! I cannot get angry and must use empathy. Here's hoping for a short adjustment period on his part and STRENGTH with consistency on my part.

How to motivate a second grader...?

2011-01-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

So my son Ryan has been in second grade since August. Yesterday I got the email every parent dreads. Here is an excerpt: Ryan did not finish any work today and lost two papers we have been working on since Monday. He also didn’t bring in his planner which happens often. I did write and staple is work on a paper and wrote his work down, should be in his backpack. I explained that not doing it was not a choice. I realize that it will take him a while but I am concerned that his grades are barely at PP because he rarely turns in work and often I have to ask several times and/or make copies because they are lost. I also explained that if he does not complete his homework he will not have recess and that he will need to speak to the principal about his work incompletion in class and not having the work completed at home. So I have known this was a problem since the beginning of the year but I thought it was getting better...Why did I think that? The "I don't have any homework" started to replace the "I forgot my homework" And if there is nothing written in his homework planner, how do I know if that is true or not...So I guess I should have been more suspicious, seeing what the teacher wrote in that email. So since his planner was almost always in his backpack, (ever since I established the no TV until I've signed your planner rule in like October) and since I always put it back in the backpack after signing it, where was it going at school? Maybe there is a mysterious wormhole along the school bus route-taking the planner in the morning and replacing it after school? In any case after his conversation with the teacher and knowing she sent me an email he actually did his homework voluntarily yesterday, I guess the threat of loss of recess and trip to the principals office worked! Except he once again had no homework today. He did have stuff written in his planner, but it was a bout some kind of testing tomorrow for reading. Lest you think that is why no homework, you should know that they tested for math today and he had homework yesterday. So I guess if he did have homework today, he will find out tomorrow that his teacher was serious.

I am a big believer in Love & Logic- their homework philosophy is that homework is the child's problem, not the parents. Kids learn to do their homework by-Not doing their homework and facing consequences from that. In other words- not threats, reminders etc. just consequences from the teacher when they don't turn it in (having to do it on recess for instance). At the beginning of the year, when Ryan didn't do a homework assignment his teacher gave him the consequence of finishing it at recess. Since then whenever he didn't want to do it I have said, (At least whenever I remember my Love & Logic) " No Problem, I'm sure you can do it during recess tomorrow" and for a while that motivated him. Now I am not sure if his teacher got tired of spending her recess time watching him do homework and stopped doing so or whether he decided he didn't care, but lately we have been having trouble with this again. So now they are working on a big biography project and the question is-Will he do it or not?
I have informed him (in Love & Logic style I think) that they will have second grade again next year, and I will love him whatever grade he is in. So I guess for now we will just have to wait and see.

Sick Little Boy=Exhausted Mom

2010-12-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

So as an ADD mom with an ADHD little boy I am still surprised that it took someone else to point out that my son was not himself. Ordinarily if he sits still for 15 minutes without the T.V. on or a video game in his hand I think something is wrong. It all started when I asked him to do something at 4:00 Friday afternoon and he said "Mom I'm reading, can I do it after?"-that should have been my first clue. This boy does not read books without prompting - ever! And when he was in the same place when dinner was ready at 6:30 I should have known. But it took a friend to mention it to me and when she asked he said his tummy hurt. So three of us (I had 2 girlfriends over: Eve who is also a mom and Rebecca Lynn) took turns feeling his head & the back of his neck and all agreed he was warm, we brought out "The bucket" (a big plastic mixing bowl twice the size of his head...yet I'm still changing sheets & cleaning carpets) and put it right next to him on the couch, made him some "Tummy Tea" (made by Traditional Medicinals it is a lifesaver) and finally continued with our dinner. Within a few moments he was calling "Rebecca Lynn, will you please empty my bucket?" Now Rebecca Lynn is an amazing woman, a real trooper, the best auntie ever and the one I call on when I need support for a Love & Logic training session but still, needless to say, it was not her idea of a fun dinner time activity. So enter Mommy to save the day.
Today is day four of "The stomach bug" I don't have to describe the symptoms or the activities of the previous 3- you all know them well, suffice it to say that I didn't have to clean vomit off of anything my son didn't touch, but everything else... Oh and I am out of clean sheets for my bed and his! So my biggest question; Why does it take so much energy to sit on a bed watching movies and fetching ginger ale? Today he was better, there was nothing new to clean except a little spilled soda. So Why am I so exhausted? Is it the three days of subsisting on fruit and protein bars (nothing he could smell)? Too much emotional release watching Lassie? Overworked gag reflex? Maybe it's the overload of motherly concern. All I know for certain is -he is going to School tomorrow or there will be a crazy woman on the loose and it wont be Rebecca Lynn.

Small Business Saturday

2010-11-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

Well here it is Black Friday and I am so not going anywhere. Not that I don't love to shop in crowded craft stores and jam packed department stores in search of great deals. I even spent the night at WalMart once to get a big screen TV at a great price. But today I am doing all my shopping online. Many of my favorite stores have online coupons today that rival their in-store deals. Not to mention that I have a cold, and don't want to share it with anyone let alone a few thousand shoppers. And my favorite place to shop online this year is ETSY.com. The variety of handmade items is mind boggling. They have jewelry, clothes, pet beds, craft items...everything you can think of that can be handmade and vintage items too. I bought some yummy yarn last year and made this gorgeous scarf last week.

Villainess Scarf


Flowered scarf band

I would like to try to sell it, but it is soo soft and yummy that I kinda want to keep it for myself. I got the yarn from Dragonfly Fiber design and it is a silk/cashmere blend in a color called Villainess. Unfortunately this particular yarn is discontinued, but they have so many more. I think I am going to make a headband to go with it or maybe a hat... Anyhow check out ETSY.com especially tomorrow on small business Saturday, and if you want to check my shop and let me know what you think I will give one random commenter a crocheted bookmark like this one, in any color you wish. Just comment by Friday December 3rd and tell me your favorite thing in my shop, and you will be entered to win.

Exploring My World

2010-05-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 weeks I have been taking a really great class from Big Picture Scrapbooking (www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com) I love this website and the great classes and workshops. I try to take one or 2 a year, sometimes more if I have time LOL. This most recent one is called Everyday Adventures: Becoming an Explorer of Your World. So every weekday since April 19 I have been given an Exploration to do. My Field Journal is getting filled with lovely little pieces of my life. So Today's adventure is a survey and I need to "Create a Simple Survey of at least five questions. Give it to a sampling of people. Document the answers in a way that is interesting and readable (For instance, as a graph, spreadsheet, or pictogram)." from "How to be an Explorer of the World" By Keri Smith.

So I am asking you, my readers, to answer the following:

1. What is your favorite color?
2. What is your current favorite book?
3. What kind of Music is your favourite?
4. What specific T.V. show do you most like to watch?
5. Who is your Hero?
6. What is your favorite scent?

And to be fair I will answer them so you can know me a little better:
1. Purple-Any shade or hue thereof
2. I'm working my way through the Trixie Belden series, currently on #11
3. Right now probably Country, but I also like Pop, Swing and Many others
4. Really loving Castle but can't wait for Burn Notice to start again!!
5. Jehovah God-It may sound corny but I know he has gotten me through life's hardest times.
6. It's a tie between the beautiful tree blossoms out right now and fresh baked brownies.

So please respond so I can fill in my latest page. And there just might be a giveaway in it for you.

1980's TV Shows they should make movies of, but probably won't

2010-04-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

1980- I was... well... under 10. The Greatest American Hero debuted. I mainly remember a few vague scenes (something about baldness?), the 2 main characters and crying when I wanted to watch it but the show was canceled.

2010 Hurrah for NetFlix!! They have it on DVD. I wasn't sure I should revisit such a treasured memory lest it be disappointing or even raunchy (Like when I saw a certain Pirate Movie as an adult-Still can't believe my parents let me watch that-Thank heaven I didn't understand when I was younger). But no it is still a good, clean, funny show, maybe a little corny in parts but still very funny. Even better, My son loves it as much as I did. Maybe it's the super hero stuff, or maybe it's the slapstick comedy crashes and super powers not quite figured out, but he loves it! So when Chowder or Johnny Test are getting on my nerves I can just put in the most recent Netflix DVD and he's not complaining! I am seeing my younger self through his eyes. He even knows every word of the theme song. How great is that. In a world where Bakugan Brawls rule the waves, we have bonded over a high school teacher in long johns and a cape. The only problem is...I may never return them to Netflix. Or maybe I need to check Amazon or Ebay. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Young Boys and Bathrooms

2010-03-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

I had dinner this evening with a friend, her husband and their 2 children. We really had a nice time. I love it when there is a man there to take my son to the bathroom with him. My friend (whose son is 4) commented that having a boy is great because she can hand off the potty job to her husband. But what's a single mom to do? Now Ryan is big enough that I don't worry about him falling in, and young enough that I'm not worried about him vandalizing the place (except from playing around and splashing sink water, does that count?) so that means my main worry is from the outside. I am worried about pedophiles, kidnappers, and (because of a story told to me by a mother when I was a teen) people who cut little boys privates off in bathrooms while their mothers wait outside. You might think this would make me an overprotective mother who would still take her teen aged son into the ladies room with her. Not so, rather, I do usually allow my 7 year old son to go into the mens room by himself. This is only because I have no qualms about invading the mens room . I am perfectly willing to barge in there if necessary, and have done so on (rare) occasions. So far there have not been any men in there when I did so, but I am aware that it is a possibility that I may one day feel the need to barge in on some poor man, convinced he is a sicko, because he happened to go in while my son was going #2 and taking for-ever. But the safety of my child is at stake, and since he has reached the age where he is embarrassed to go in the Ladies room, I reserve that right. None the less, I am relieved when a male aquaintance (usually a friends husband) takes him with them and saves me the 5 minutes of pacing, standing guard outside the door, (You won't believe the looks I get) preceded by "Is there anyone in there?", oh and then my favorite-"I didn't hear a flush." Followed by "Oh I forgot!" and another 20 seconds of pacing, usually ending with "Go back and wash your hands-With Soap!"

Which reminds me-What does it take to get a boy to remember to flush? Ever since he was potty trained, I have found myself flushing for him at least daily. I have tried charging for it, (we're up to 75 cents a flush- the boy owes me about 2 years allowance) reminders, notes on the mirror and the door, I cannot think of another thing to do. Are all young boys this way? If it was just urine I could handle that but no, it never is in fact it usually starts because I can smell it from downstairs. And just when you think it can't get any worse-there's never any evidence of toilet paper usage. Doesn't that get irritating to the skin? Or itchy or something? You wouldn't know from him. I have bought the special "Kandoo" wipes, (Dried out and thrown away, barely touched) I've even asked him about it, and warned him that it could get itchy or painful, that he could wind up with a rash or an infection-I swear he does not care! Being a boy he doesn't worry about hand washing either. Well at least he knows for sure there's no BM on his hands. And don't get me started about not closing the door...even with company in the house!
I think little girls may have it right-"Boys are Yucky"

The Leather Jacket

2010-03-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

As this is my first blog I will start by introducing myself. I am Katrina, also occasionally known as Kate and since my last name is Forman I thought it would be cute to spell it with numbers. I think my late husband would laugh, at least I like to think so. Sometimes I think I only remember what I want to about him. He has been gone for nearly 7 years now and sometimes days, even weeks go by with only a passing thought of him. Recently though, as certain incidents have triggered certain things, he has come to mind more and more often and the pain I sometimes shut away in the dark recesses of the dungeon of my brain has too. I am told that this is good for me. That I need to "deal with it" I don't want to "deal with it! It hurts!! But since I have started to clean house and de-clutter my literal dwelling, maybe my mind wants to clean out some of the cobwebs too.

Today my trigger was his old Leather Jacket. He wore it for our first date. He was wearing it for our first kiss, and he wore it a lot the first couple years of our marriage. I remember hugging him and resting my cheek on his chest and smelling that wonderful leather smell that is so masculine and somehow compelling to me.

Yesterday I picked it up from the dry cleaners and left it in the bag on the couch. So today when I got home I took it, along with my other dry cleaning upstairs and hung it in my closet. (by the way I swear the jacket alone weighs a hundred pounds, okay maybe 50..30? well it's really heavy okay!) So I lugged the thing upstairs and I wonder...does it still have the smell? So I removed the plastic and I leaned in real close. Pretty soon I was resting my cheek against it & suddenly I was back in time, and he was hugging me. (I tried to figure out how to wrap the sleeves around myself, but decided that was silly... and hopeless). It felt so good, I didn't want to move. So I didn't... for a few minutes anyway. But pretty soon I convinced myself that I couldn't stay there forever and so I pulled myself away. Just knowing it is there, that I could do that again is so tempting... It kind of scared me.
He has been gone for 7 years and I really have come a long way. Was I reverting? Would I suddenly obsess about this jacket and allow my progress to crumble until I am once again an emotional basket case, wearing his old shirt and sweatpants all the time? Or is it allowing me to process and feel things I should allow myself to feel so I can "deal with" my emotions? How can I find out? Viewing my tears as a good sign, I have decided for now that it is the latter, however I am going to limit my exposure. Just in case.

Two Hours Later (can't you just hear the narrator from SpongeBob?) I have just finished watching a wonderful movie about two amazing women and their husbands were so wonderful I couldn't help but miss mine. So I touched "The Box" on my bookcase, and looked at the cold shiny varnished oak with his name on it. And I went to my closet and wrapped myself in the leather jacket, and rested my cheek on the leather. So now I'm not so sure how this is going to work out, I guess time will tell. And by the way the smell-it's faint but still there!!